In The Asylum at Dorney Park's Halloween Haunt, the door closed ominously behind us in the solitary confinement room. Two crazed-looking inmates, one holding a bedpan, shared the tiny space with us.

Then one wall started moving toward us, making the room even smaller as our cellmates cackled maniacally.

Creepy? Yes. But the smell was even worse. The odor — best described as "eau de outhouse" — permeated the room as we struggled to find the key to escape.

The experience is part of new Skeleton Key Rooms. They're a bonus at several of Dorney's 11 haunted attractions, for patrons who buy a $35 Fright Lane pass.

It's part of a trend at haunted houses locally and nationally to boost the scare factor. Other Skeleton Key Room experiences include being put in a coffin and pushed into an "incinerator," having to retrieve a key from the disemboweled stomach of a zombie and crawling across netting while a ghoul underneath tries to grab you.

CHRIS SHIPLEY, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL

Dorney's Park's Halloween Haunt opened last week. New haunts this year are the wax museum-themed Chamber of Horrors and the scary clown-filled CarnEvil.

Dorney's Park's Halloween Haunt opened last week. New haunts this year are the wax museum-themed Chamber of Horrors and the scary clown-filled CarnEvil. (CHRIS SHIPLEY, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

Fright Lane customers also can go through a maze called Blackout, which is completely dark.

Dorney has also added new scares for customers without a pass.

The main new haunt is Madame Plarr's Chamber of Horrors, a wax museum. It features creepy statues of criminals and murderers, some of which unexpectedly come to life.

The attraction is in a building that previously housed Psycho Circus. Dorney General Manager Brad Marcy says the Psycho Circus was "an older maze that we felt needed a new theme. Wax museums provide a great Haunt experience."

The crazed clowns and side-show freaks have moved to a new scare zone, called CarnEvil, located near the roller coaster Hydra.

CarnEvil includes a stage where an outdoor show called "Skeleton Crew" will begin on Sept. 26. "Skeleton Crew" is a high-energy Cirque-style show featuring acrobatics, music and light effects.

Returning haunts are The Asylum, the redneck-infested Bloodshed, the government experiment gone wrong Desolation, the haunted fields of Cornstalkers, zombie-infested cemetery and mausoleum of Grave Walkers, the Mansion House Hotel, and the walk-through scare zones of the medieval Age of Darkness, the tribal Head Hunters and shipwrecked pirate ship Cut Throat Island.

Dorney hires nearly 700 people for the Haunt. So you'll find actors not only inhabiting the attractions but also skulking around the park looking for unsuspecting victims.

Oni Hartstein, who writes the popular OnezumiVerse haunted attractions blog, is impressed with Dorney's Halloween attractions.

"Dorney Park Haunt is one of the best theme park haunts I've ever encountered," she says. "This kind of innovation toward interactivity and personal experiences is what I believe sets them apart from every other theme park haunt I have ever done.

"One doesn't immediately expect this level of strategic depth from a theme park. Dorney went above and beyond this year again. They may be a smaller park but they outdid many larger parks simply by raising the bar on quality."

Skeleton Key rooms are at other Cedar Fair parks as well, Marcy says, including Cedar Point in Ohio and Kings Dominion in Virginia.

"It takes the scare factor to a whole new level," he says. "Haunt has been very well received and continues to grow both in size and popularity."

Other haunted attractions in the region have also become more intense. Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia offers an option in which patrons can allow themselves to be grabbed by costumed actors. And Shocktoberfest near Reading has the "Almost" Naked and Scared Challenge, in which you can pass through clad only in your underwear.

Haunted Attraction Association President Patrick Konopelski, who also runs Shocktoberfest, says, "Today, haunts are comparable to Hollywood productions, as they have become elaborate and immersive to create an authentic experience for visitors."

For younger children, Dorney continues to offer its daytime family-friendly BooBlast with a petting zoo, pumpkin painting, trick-or-treat street, hay maze and tractor stomp. Kids also can do a pirate scavenger hunt at Cut Throat Island manned by affable pirates and tour a Mansion House Hotel haunted by friendly ghosts.

•What: Dorney Park offers 11 scary attractions in the evening and the kid-friendly BooBlast in the daytime.

•When: Park is open 6 p.m.-midnight Fridays and 11 a.m.-midnight Saturdays. On Sundays, park offers only the scare-free BooBlast 11 a.m.-8 p.m. in September and on Nov. 2. It's open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sundays in October for BooBlast and the Haunt. Each day, Haunt attractions open at 7 p.m.